Life As We Know It
by Lex55
Summary: Takes place right after the finale of Season 5. Alex witnesses something he doesn’t quite understand, but knows life is changing right in front of him. Its a sad one folks.


Fic: Life As We Know It

Rating: No Rating. It's all good.

Feedback: I would really appreciate it.

Summary: Takes place right after the finale of Season 5. Alex witnesses something he doesn't quite understand, but knows life is changing right in front of him.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything what so ever, so keep the lawsuits to yourself, please.

A/N: **Spoilers** for all of last year, including the finale. This one is a sad on folks.

~*~

Life As We Know It.

~*~

Alex held onto Izzie's limp hand as Cristina stood on the opposite side of her bed and listened to her heart rate with her stethoscope.

"Her heart rate looks good," Bailey said from her position at the heart monitor as she studied the dispensed paper from the machine.

"Good," the Chief said, standing at the foot of her bed with his arms crossed. "How's her pressure?"

"Coming back up," Cristina answered.

"Looks like we dodged a bullet," Bailey sighed, knowing everyone was still holding their breaths. Watching their fellow colleague as she flat-lined right in front of them prompted them to ignore her DNR orders to bring her back.

"Why isn't she awake?" Alex asked even though he was a doctor and knew the complications that came with resuscitating a patient. "She should be conscious by now."

He looked back at Izzie lying so still in her bed and he felt his stomach drop once again.

"Sometimes it just takes time," Bailey offered her former intern. "When she's ready she'll wake up."

"We've paged Shepherd," the Chief said. "In the mean time, we'll get a C.T. set up and make sure there's been no damage. Shepherd can examine her and see what's going on."

"What are we going to do after she wakes up?" Cristina asked with a cautious tone.

They all looked up at her knowing what her loaded question meant, but all stayed silent for a moment.

"What are we going to tell her about the DNR?" Cristina clarified anyways.

"Will tell her that the electrical activity in her brain was still savable," Bailey said as if she was reassuring herself.

"That there was a small open window to make a decision and we made the executive decision to go further," The chief added with finality to his tone.

The room fell silent as they all looked at the still doctor.

"We'll tell her it wasn't her time." Alex said, his voice low and serious. "That she wasn't going to get this far, after fighting this long to just give up. We're surgeons. We don't do that. We don't give up. Not now. I'm her husband and I wont allow it."

They all stayed silent as they watched sympathetically as Alex held tightly onto her hand and tried to keep his emotions in check. Alex knew they were all feeling pity for him and he could feel the burning anger in the pit of his stomach rise as each minute ticked on.

"Where the hell is Shepherd?!" Alex asked angrily.

"He may be in surgery," Bailey offered the distraught doctor. "I believe the John Doe patient was pretty banged up and in need of a lot of attention. He may have his hands full right now."

"Can't Dr. Nelson take that case?" Alex asked, bitterly. "This is Izzie."

"We'll go check on Derek," The chief said, wanting to give his resident some time alone with Izzie. "Yang will set up a C.T. and M.R.I and a set of labs every half hour to watch all her stats."

Cristina nodded as she and Bailey followed their boss and started heading towards the door, understanding his silent decision to give Alex some space. She paused at the door and turned back to her friend in the bed. After a moment, Alex felt her gaze fall on him and he could tell she wanted to say something to make him feel better.

"She's alive," She said, simply. Alex turned to her and held her gaze for a brief moment before she turned to leave.

He watched as the three doctors walked out into the hallway and down the corridor, all sighing in relief at the close call. As they walked, they were giving each other smiles knowing they had saved Izzie's life. They knew it was a risky move but it was a decision they wouldn't go back on.

Alex couldn't smile just yet. When her heart rate started picking back up after watching as her body jumped violently as they shocked her with the paddles, he could feel the weight begin to lift off his chest, but he wasn't satisfied until she was awake and talking to him again. He was determined that this wasn't going to be the end for them.

He let out a shaky breath to try and calm his nerves and watched the others as they made their way to the nurses' station still clearly riding on the high of saving a life, but behind them the sight of Meredith slowly coming out of the O.R. caught his attention. She had a blank expression on her face as she made her way down the hallway. She was heading towards the nurses station, so he thought she might be coming to check up on Izzie's stasis, but a few steps before she got to the three doctors standing at the station, she veered just to the right them and heavily sat down on the plastic chairs in lined against the wall.

She was just sitting there and the other doctors hadn't noticed her yet, but Alex did. He looked more closely and noticed her shirt and hands were stained a deep red color and she still had her scrub cap on as if she had just walked out of the O.R. room. However, what really bothered him was the blank pale expression. It was a haunting look to see.

A movement behind her caught his eye again as he looked over and saw Dr. Hunt walking out of the same operating room Meredith had just come from with a steady walk down the hallway with Shepherd and Torres slowly coming out behind him. All had the same bloody, pale appearance as Meredith had.

The army doctor briefly looked at Meredith sitting numbly in the chair, but it didn't stop him as he headed toward the group of doctors at the nurses station. His steps were firm but measured as if he were on a mission. Nothing was going to stop until his mission was complete.

Alex felt something twist inside telling him something was different about this situation. This wasn't part of normal post surgery behavior. There was a look he couldn't quiet read on all of their faces, but he knew it was a look that was chilling. The looks were so distressing it made Alex stand and step closer to the door to get a better look.

He stopped at the door when he noticed Callie as she leaned heavily against the wall and slid to the floor with a despairing look. He wandered what was going on as the situation unfolded in front of him.

Owen's measured steps finally made their way to the three who were still smiling at their own pricey victory at the nurses' station. When they noticed the newest doctor standing stoically still, they all turned towards him. Bailey was in the middle of the group facing Izzie's room as the Chief and Cristina stood to each side in front of her.

The military doctor stood straight as he pulled his scrub cap off and held it behind him as he addressed them. The nurses station was too far away from Alex to be able to hear what the other doctor was saying, but he could easily see the impact of his message hit them as Bailey's smiling face fell and the Chief's folded arms fell limply to his side.

Whatever he was telling him must have been serious because Alex could literally see the light mood change in front of him. Everyone went rigid and sucked in air. Just behind them he noticed Derek stop at Meredith's side and place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

He looked back at Bailey as she shook her head vehemently and asked the Chief something with a disbelieving look. Alex had seen that look before when Izzie cut Denny's L-VAD cord and their mentor addressed them with an unbelieving and troubled glare.

Hunt began speaking again as the others listened intently. It must have been a serious blow because Bailey looked like the air had been knocked out of her lungs. She shook her head quickly and suddenly turned and took off towards the room the distraught doctors had just come from.

Alex felt chill bumps roll across his skin.

The Chief's gaze fell to the floor as the army doctor finished his mission. Cristina's hand slowly rose to her mouth as she silently took in whatever the other doctor was telling them. Her finger tips ghosting over her lips in shock.

Alex watched as the mood changed around them. He could feel it in his gut too. Something serious was going on. Something very different was happening that they had never experienced before. He swallowed hard.

Finally, Cristina turned towards him and looked in his direction, her hand still frozen over her mouth. Was she trying to tell him something with her look? Was she trying to tell him he should come to see what was going on? Was it about Izzie?

Suddenly, he noticed Cristina wasn't looking at him at all. She was looking right past his left shoulder and into the room at the silent occupant in the bed. The realization that she was staring right at Izzie sent another round of chills across his body.

Alex looked back at his sleeping wife. He still didn't know what was going on but an unnerving feeling was growing inside him, making him even more anxious than before. The atmosphere behind him had gone from cautiously optimistic to something cold and dark. And that change was rippling through the air.

Just then another movement caught his eye as he saw Izzie's nose twitch. Her eyes started to slowly flutter open and Alex's breath caught in his throat.

"George?" Her soft, raw voice called out.

Alex's brow furrowed as he took in what she said. He looked at her and then back at the troubled doctors behind him.

Yes, something very, very different was happening.

~*~

The End.

~*~


End file.
